


You Scare Away My Nightmares

by Anonymous



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, lots of fluff, nerds being nerds, sleepy Nico
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-26
Updated: 2017-07-30
Packaged: 2018-12-07 02:53:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11614398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Nico is sleepy, and Will can't handle how cute that is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I blinked, and more Solangelo appeared! I should have been sleeping...

"Hey, Nico," Will said, sidling up to the table of his friend/crush.

Nico glanced up from his bowl of cereal."What's up, Solace?" Nico said, sounding marginally less grumpy than he normally did in the morning, but probably only because he looked like he was still half asleep.

Will glanced over his shoulder to make sure Dionysus wasn't watching, and then plopped down opposite Nico."I'm surprised to see you up so early," he said."Don't you normally roll out of bed around ten?"

"Didn't sleep last night, going back to bed after this," Nico grunted, poking at his mushy cereal with a spoon.

Will frowned."Why didn't you sleep?" he asked worriedly.After Nico's three days in the infirmary after the battle with Gaea, Will had seen his nightmares firsthand, but Nico usually managed to get at least a few hours of sleep.No, Will was not a stalker.

"I got back from the Underworld early this morning," Nico said."Chiron said I could skip activities today."

Will studied him."But don't you usually eat chocolate pancakes for breakfast?" he asked, and then winced.That _definitely_ sounded stalkerish.

Nico blinked at him."What?"

Will gestured to his bowl."Cereal seems uncharacteristic, that's all," he said sheepishly.

Nico stared at him, and then slowly looked down at his bowl.He violently recoiled as soon as he caught sight of what was in it."Damn you, Demeter!" he shouted, sounding suddenly more lucid, shoving the bowl to the side."Why can't they leave me alone?"He dropped his head onto the table on top of his folded arms.

Will stared at him for a moment and then said uncertainly, "Um... Nico?"

Nico sighed loudly, but lifted his head to look at Will with tired eyes. "I was in the Underworld for a week," he said, as if Will hadn't noticed his absence."My dad has started listening to this one talk show on the radio, one of those where couples call in with their issues, and he heard that playing nice with the in-laws is a good way to suck up to your significant other.So we both had to eat cereal every breakfast to get on Demeter's good side.I _hate_ the gods."He dropped his head again.

"Um... OK?" Will said after a moment, not quite sure to make of all that.

He stared at the top of Nico's head for a moment, half-certain he had fallen asleep sitting at the uncomfortable table, but then Nico said in a muffled voice, "Was there something you wanted, Solace?"

Will blinked."What?"

Nico tilted his head so he could look blearily up at him through his shaggy black bangs."Why'd you come over here?" he asked.

"I haven't seen you in a week," Will said."I came over to say hello, and-"

"Hello," Nico interrupted.

"And make sure you're healthy," Will finished, ignoring him.He gave Nico a critical look."You look really out of it."

Nico blew out a puff of air that disturbed his bangs."I'm fine," he mumbled."Just wanna get back to my cabin."He pushed away from the table and staggered to his feet, blinking rapidly.

Will stood in tandem."I'll help you.You look like you're about to pass out.Gods, did you sleep at _all_ in the Underworld?"

"Not too much," Nico slurred."Too much work, not enough time."

Will quickly walked around the table and slid an arm around Nico's waist."Let's get you to bed," he murmured.

Nico twitched, like he was thinking about struggling, but then sagged, leaning heavily against Will."M'kay, leggo," he muttered.

Will helped Nico stumble down the path to the cabins, only slightly disappointed that the only reason he was allowed to have an arm around Nico was because the other was half asleep.Will held Nico steady on the porch of the Hades cabin as he fumbled with the door, and then let the both of them in.Nico immediately pulled away from Will and stumbled over to the bed, collapsing face first onto his pillow.

Will hesitated, lingering on the threshold of the room, unsure of what to do.On the one hand, there was no way he was going to undress Nico for bed when the other boy was very out of it and couldn’t consent, but he also figured Nico wouldn’t be happy if he stabbed himself in his sleep with his sword, or got dirt all over his sheets from his muddy combat boots.Will settled on a compromise, unlacing Nico’s shoes and setting them on the floor by the end of his bed, hanging his jacket over a chair, and laying the sword and scabbard by the bed.That done, he poked Nico until the boy shifted in his bed, and then pulled the sheets over him.

“G’night, Will,” Nico mumbled sleepily, nuzzling his pillow.

“Sleep well, Nico,” Will whispered, and just barely resisted the temptation to kiss the already slumbering boy on the forehead before he left.

***

Nico reappeared at dinner, looking much less exhausted, although the circles under his eyes remained.Will hoped he hadn’t had too many nightmares.Will quickly finished his dinner and then, ignoring the strange looks he was getting from his siblings, crossed the pavilion and plopped down in front of Nico.It was late September, and all but the year-round campers had gone home, so Nico was alone rather than sitting with Jason or Percy like he had during the summer.

“Hey, are you feeling better?” Will asked.

Nico looked up from where he was picking at his plate of spaghetti and said, “Yeah, I am.Thanks, by the way.”

“No problem,” Will said cheerfully.

Nico hesitated, and then said, “Um, I didn’t do anything weird, right?I’ve been told that when I’m really tired I act like I’m drunk.”

Will laughed a little.“No, you were good,” he promised.“You basically fell asleep right away.”

“Well, thanks again,” Nico mumbled, looking back down at his dinner.He seemed embarrassed.

Will watched as he used his fork to cut a strand of spaghetti into seventeen identical pieces, and then said, “You know, it would probably taste better if you actually ate it.”

Nico raised an eyebrow.“Thanks for the input, Doctor Solace,” he said.Will shrugged.Nico sighed.“I’m not that hungry,” he said.“And it’s not as good as real Italian food.”

Will snorted.“Did you expect it to be?”

Nico shrugged.“Fair,” he said.

Will watched as he continued to reduce his food to mush, and then asked, “What are you doing after dinner?”

Nico shrugged.“I’ll probably go back to my cabin and read,” he said.“Jason’s been trying to get me to read this series, he even got me the Greek version so it might be a little easier on my dyslexia.”

“That was nice of him,” Will said, definitely not jealous.

Nico poked at a longer strand of spaghetti, and then asked without looking up, “I, um… I know you’ve read that series.I saw you reading one of the books in the infirmary.”

Will winced.He wasn’t supposed to read on duty, but the newest book had just come out, and he hadn’t been able to resist the temptation.“Yeah,” Will admitted reluctantly.

Nico looked up at him through his bangs, and said, “If, um, if you’re not doing anything, you can come over.And read.”

Will stared at him, and then a wide smile flashed across his face.“Really?”

Nico shrugged.“Yeah, whatever,” he said gruffly.“It’s sort of cool, that they have books printed in Greek.Easier.”

Will smiled at him.“I’d love to come over!” he said brightly.

Nico nodded sharply.“Alright, then,” he said, getting to his feet.“Come on.”

Will blinked as he crossed the pavilion to scrape the rest of his food into the fire, and then beckoned to Will.Will stumbled to his feet and followed Nico, walking a little faster to catch up with him.The smaller boy was walking with his hands in the pocket of his jacket and his shoulders hunched, but as Will fell into step with him his posture relaxed a little.

“So… what book are you on?” Will asked.

“Two,” Nico replied, glancing sideways at Will.

Will grinned and started peppering him with questions about the plot and characters until they reached the Hades cabin.Nico gave him a nervous look as they crossed the threshold, but Will didn’t even shiver.For whatever reason, Nico didn’t scare him like he seemed to scare other campers, so Will didn’t find his cabin all that intimidating either.Nico’s lips twitched with what could have been a smile.

He crossed the room and took two books off the table by his bed.“Here,” he said, offering one of them to Will.

Will took it, smiling at the familiar cover art of the first book.Nico plopped down on his bed and leaned against the wall, pulling his knees up and opening the book to the middle.After a long moment, he looked up at Will, who was standing in the middle of the room and staring at him.“What are you waiting for, Solace, an invitation?” Nico snapped.

Will blinked.“Right.”He stepped forward and gingerly sat on the bed, scooting back so that he was against the wall next to Nico.Will glanced nervously at the son of Hades.Nico turned the page in his book, studiously ignoring Will.Will swallowed, trying not to freak out about being in such close proximity to his crush, before opening the book to the first page and beginning to read.

They stayed like that for a few hours, reading in silence.  Will was about three quarters of the way through his book when he felt a slight pressure on his shoulder.Will froze, for a moment sure he had fallen asleep and was dreaming, and then turned.

Nico had dozed off and his head was leaning against Will's shoulder, the book he had been reading slipping from his limp fingers.As Will watched, Nico shifted slightly to get more comfortable against him, soft black hair brushing Will's cheek.Will sat frozen for a moment before relaxing, smiling slightly.He rubbed at his eyes with one hand, realizing that they burned with tiredness, and closed his book before gently laying it on the bed beside him.That done, Will let his cheek rest on the top of Nico's head as his eyes drifted closed.

***

"Hey, have you seen Will this morning?" Kayla asked Austin.

Her brother shrugged."I don't know," he said."Last I saw him he was wandering off after di Angelo."

"Right," Kayla said with a nod, and then stood, getting to her feet in front of her bed in the Apollo cabin.

Austin blinked."Where are you going?"

Kayla smiled."To find Will."

She left without another word, crossing the green to the Hades cabin.It only took her a moment to work up the nerve, and then Kayla knocked softly on the door.Receiving no answer, she quietly let herself in. Morning sunlight slanted across the polished dark floor of the cabin before illuminating the bed across the room.Kayla smiled.

Sometime during the night, Will and Nico had fallen asleep cuddling with each other.Will was half slumped against the wall, an arm around Nico and his face buried in Nico's hair, while the son of Hades had an arm around Will's waist and his face pressed into Will's chest, clutching him possessively.Their legs tangled together, and their shoes lay discarded by the bed.

Kayla covered her smile with a hand, imagining how Will would react when he woke up to find Nico cuddling him like a teddy bear.She slipped out her phone, specially designed by the Hephaestus cabin with a 99.9% monster resistant guarantee, and snapped a picture.That done, Kayla slipped out of the cabin, leaving the two boys to their peaceful slumber. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little sequel to the first part. Sorry if it's not up to my usual standards... I'm lazy, and... I really have no excuse. Anyways, enjoy!

Nico started to regain consciousness, and slowly became aware first of the sound of chirping birds outside his cabin, and then the warm arm around his shoulder, supporting him.Nico didn’t move, trying to figure out in his sleepy mind what was going on.He realized that he was still sitting in an uncomfortable position up against the wall on his bed, instead of under the covers like he should be, but he was leaning up against a warm body.

Nico felt the slightly rough material of someone’s shirt against his cheek, sensed the slight rise and fall of someone's breath in their chest, heard the deep, slow throbbing of someone’s heart next to his ear.He smelled the detergent washed into the cotton shirt and underneath that, the scent that he automatically associated with Will Solace, of all people, antiseptic and sunlight.

Nico, still not completely awake, cuddled closer to the other person and mumbled in Italian, “You’re so warm.We should do this all the time.”

Next to Nico, the other person inhaled slightly in his sleep, and his arm around the son of Hades tightened.He felt a slight pressure on the top of his head, and knew instinctively that someone was leaning his cheek on the top of his head.Nico drank in the moment and started to drift back to sleep, cradled in the warm embrace of someone he wanted to look up at and then kiss for whatever reason (because he imagined that he was leaning up against Will, and he wanted to kiss Will, but why would Will be here, so he must be dreaming) but then the person with his arm around Nico seemed to shift, jerking slightly as he awoke.The arm around Nico's shoulders immediately disappeared, and that jolted him awake.

Blinking the sleep out of his eyes, Nico mumbled, ”What?" He rubbed at his face, trying to figure out why he felt so relaxed, the remnants of his pleasant dream already slipping away, and then looked at Will.

Wait... Will?What the Hades was Will doing here?

"N-Nico!" Will stammered, eyes wide.He immediately pushed himself away from Nico, kneeling back on the bed.“Oh my gods, I’m so sorry!” he gasped.

Nico rubbed his eyes again, completely discombobulated.Why was his back hurting, and why did he have such a crick in his neck?Why did he feel more well-rested than he had in years?And most importantly, why was Will Solace _in his bed?_ “Solace… What-”

“I’m really sorry,” Will said again, sounding embarrassed.

Nico glanced around.He was sitting up against the wall of his bed, his legs out in front of him.Something sharp dug into the meat of his thigh, and he pulled out his hardcover book with a confused expression.“We… were reading,” he said slowly, and then the rest of the night dawned on him.Gods.Oh, gods. Nico vaguely remembered being exhausted out of his mind, reading the same paragraph over and over without remembering any of the words, leaning up against the warm boy next to him, closing his eyes _for just a second because they were dry, and heavy, and he was so godsdamned comfortable…_

“I fell asleep on you,” Nico mumbled, covering his red face with his hands.“Will, I’m so sorry.”He peeked through his fingers at Will.The son of Apollo also looked embarrassed, cheeks pink and the tips of his ears flaming red.

“Um… It’s alright,” Will said quietly.“I didn’t mind, I promise.”

Nico’s eyes widened in horror as something occurred to him.“I didn’t… I didn’t _drool_ on you, did I?”

Will laughed a little.“No.You’re good.”He chewed on his lip, and said tentatively, “Was I a comfortable pillow?”

Nico just groaned in embarrassment.

Will carefully touched his shoulder.“Nico, don’t be angry,” he said.“I fell asleep too, so it’s mostly my fault.”

“I’m not angry!” Nico exclaimed, looking up sharply.He winced when he realized that that statement had come out a little more angrily than he had intended.He added in a softer voice, “I’m not.I’m sorry you had to deal with me all night.”

Will’s face flushed a little more.“I didn’t mind,” he said quickly, and then gave Nico a careful, nervous smile.“You’re, um… you’re cute when you’re asleep.”

Nico blinked.Was Will… flirting with him?Nico had attempted to flirt with the son of Apollo before, but he was astoundingly bad at it.Nico fully knew he wouldn’t recognize flirting if it hit him in the face.But maybe… Maybe Will was teasing him, but he could also be flirting.Which meant that he might reciprocate Nico’s feelings after all.True, basically all of Nico’s friends had insisted that his crush on Will was requited, but Nico had chosen not to believe them.He just wasn’t that lucky.But if Will was flirting with him… Nico decided to test the waters.“I didn’t answer your question,” he said bluntly.“You are a fairly comfortable pillow.”

Will covered a smile at that.“So you slept well then, I guess?”

Nico opened his mouth to retort that no, of course he hadn’t slept well, he was a demigod, he had godsdamned _nightmares_ every night, but then he paused.Nico normally woke up screaming at least four times a night, and it would take him a while to relax enough to go back asleep.But he hadn’t woken up at all the night previous, and when he thought about it, all he could remember from his dreams was a warm, reassuring, soft golden glow.“Yeah,” he answered softly.“I did sleep well.No nightmares.”

Will smiled.“Maybe I scared them away.”He huffed into his fist, made a face, and then added, “I think my morning breath could scare a giant away.Gods, I really need to brush my teeth.”

“What time is it?” Nico mumbled, fumbling for a clock.

“Nine thirty one,” Will answered, and then shrugged at Nico’s inquisitive look.“Son of the sun god.Perks of the trade, I guess.”

Nico smiled.“Do you want to go to breakfast?” he asked, and then glanced down.“I’m… actually hungry.”And he was.Nico couldn’t remember the last time he had been actually, genuinely hungry, but he was now.

Will nodded.“Yeah, I could use some coffee,” he said.Nico gave him a strange look.Will raised an eyebrow.“What?Just because I’m a son of Apollo doesn’t mean I like mornings,” he said.Nico had to laugh at that.Will laughed too, and then stood up and tentatively offered Nico a hand.“Coming?”Nico bit his lip, ducked his chin so his eyes were hidden behind his bangs, and then grabbed Will’s hand before he could talk himself out of it.Will heaved him up, and then didn’t let go of his hand.“I could go for some cereal, too,” Will said with a mischievous grin as they stepped out of the cabin.

Nico sighed.“Don’t even _talk_ to me about cereal.”

They had just reached the dining pavilion when they were accosted by Will’s sister Kayla.“Hi, Will, Nico,” she chirped.“Sleep well?”

Will gave her a flat look.“Not a word, Kayla,” he said, sounding unamused, but he still didn’t let go of Nico’s hands.

Kayla giggled.“That’s OK,” she said.“Pictures speak louder than words, anyways.”

She pulled out her phone and showed them the screen.Nico’s eyes widened.Kayla had made her lock screen a photograph of him and Will, clearly taken earlier that morning when they were still asleep.Will had his arm around Nico’s shoulders, smiling a little in his sleep as Nico slept with his face pressed against Will’s chest.Nico had to admit that it was a cute picture, but his face went red as he imaged Kayla walking in and seeing them like that.

“Kayla!” Will said sharply.He squeezed Nico’s hand, like he was afraid Nico was going to run away.“Delete that,” Will ordered.

Kayla pursed her lips.“Nope.And I’ve already texted it to you, of you want to make it your lock screen too,” she added.Will puffed out an exasperated breath but gave up, clearly realizing that it wasn’t worth the argument.

“Hey!” Will’s brother Austin called out as he entered the pavilion and spotted them.“Good morning,” he said amiably as he wandered over to the group.His eyes flicked over Will and Nico, lingering for a moment on their linked hands, and then his smile took on a slightly evil tinge.“Enjoy your sleepover?”

Nico buried his face in Will’s shoulder and groaned.

Will just sighed.“Sure.We slept well.”

“Sure you did,” Austin replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

Ignoring the innuendo, Will tugged lightly at Nico’s hand.“Come on, let’s get food,” he said.“It doesn’t even have to be cereal.”

Nico nodded, and let Will tug him towards the food.Kayla and Austin followed, still smirking and giving each other little looks.Nico didn’t let it bother him.He was embarrassed but, he reflected as Will clung to his hand even as they got their breakfasts and sat down at the same table, he was happier than he had been in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> Basically my headcanons that Nico is adorable when he's sleepy and these two are both huge nerds. As always, hope you enjoyed and have a wonderful day, dear reader!


End file.
